Taliban attack provincial capitals

Fierce gunbattles erupt as fighters raid government offices in Gardez and Jalalabad.

21 Jul 2009 15:21 GMT

There has been a spike in violence since US and British troops launched offensives in Helmand [File: AFP]

The attackers "dressed as women, wearing wigs and burqas, walked towards the guards at the NDS gates, pretending to submit an application paper", the statement said.

Officials said the men were shot dead before reaching their targets.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency that as many as 15 fighters in suicide vests had staged the assault in Gardez.

US and Nato-led forces were sent to the scene to help the Afghan military and police regain control, Captain Elizabeth Mathias, a US military spokeswoman, said.

'Symbols of power'

In Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, Mohamamd Ayub Salangi, the provincial police chief, said two suicide attackers on a motorbike carrying AK-47s and a rocket propelled grenade died in an attempted attack on the city's airport, a military base.

A police officer was also killed, a local doctor said.

Mujahid said that his Taliban fighters had managed to enter the base and killed "several Afghan and foreign forces".